Rotary staple cutting machine



. 1. ELLIS ROTARY STAPLE CUTTING MACHINE Nov. 12, 1940.

Filed Oct. 18, 1939 FIG. Z.

JAMES ELLIS INV NTOR m5, BY MR. 0g ATTO EYS sei dNer, 12. w

Y v f 52,221,022

, 7 mass STABLE cnrrmanracnmn James Eliis, Kingsport, Tenn, assignor to Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N. Y, a corporation of New Jersey Application October 18, 1939, Serial No. 300,093

2 Giaims. (or. 164-68) y adjusting the pulleys i8 and I9 to maintain.

This invention relates to filament cutters for reducing continuous filaments of cellulosic material to staple lengths suitable for conversion into spun yarn on standard textile processing equipment.

One object of the invention is to provide a mechanism, the cutting elements or knives of which are readily replaceable. Another object is to provide adjusting means whereby wear of one of the knives relative to the other may be altered, with the mechanism running, to compensate for wear of the cutting surfaces. A specific object is to render the wives selfsharpening, thereby reducing maintenance costs to a minimum and assuring a proper cutting action at all times. Other objects will appear hereinafter.

These objects are accomplished by the following invention, which, in its broader aspects, comprises providing a rotary cutting mechanism wherein a pair of oppositely rotating rollers are arranged in juxtaposition so that two series of knives carried by the rollers may contact each other successively and sever filaments which are conveyed between the cutting edges of the knives by a belt system.

In the following description, I have set forth one of the preferred embodiments of my invention, but it is included merely for purposes of illustration and not as a limitation ther of.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of a mechanism embodying the invention,

Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1 in which certain minor details have been omitted,

Fig. 3 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary section of the parts shown in Fig. 1 and illustrating .the action of the knives at one point in their movement,

Fig. 4 is a plan view in section of a suitable mechanism for relative adjustment of the knives and Fig. 5 is a fragmentary diagram showing the knives as they meet and pass during the cutting operation.

As illustrated herewith, the roving or loosely twisted bundle of continuous filaments Hi to be reduced to staple lengths is fed over a guide roll H, laterally movable in a slotted way l2. A roller l3, mounted on a driven shaft M is spaced from asimilar roller l5 on a shaft l6 by approximately the thickness of an endless belt W. This belt runs over two idlers or take-up pulleys l8 and I9, located above and below roller i3. Conventional means, not shown, may be provided for the desired belt tension.

The purpose of belt H is not to drive either of rollers 83 and I5, nor to equalize their speed, positive mechanical connections being employed for this purpose as will be described below. The primary function of the belt I! is to act as a conveyor for the roving of filaments Hi. It carries this roving around the periphery of roller l3 t-o the-point of cutting and finally delivers the cut staples 20 into a chute 2i from which they are continuously drawn by suitable suction and conveyed to storage or to other processing equipment, as desired.

In passing over the roller E3 the roving is severed by knives 22 and 24. Knives 22 are of comparatively soft steel and are retained in place within the recesses by suitable clamping blocks 23. A somewhat similar series of knives 24, preferably of hardened steel, are equally spaced in recesses in the roller l5 and are retained by clamping blocks 25. The specific manner of mounting and adjusting knives 22 and 24 is illustrated in Fig. 3. It should be noted that knives 22 do not project beyond the periphery of roller l3, while knives 26 are of such length and are so adjusted as to project, not only beyond the periphery of roller l5, but also within the mouth of the recess in roller It as the two rolls rotate in opposite directions.

The shafts It and I6 are mounted in suitable bearings 26 and are provided, respectively, with meshing gears 21 and 28 as shown, the gear 21 being driven by a pinion 28 mounted on a primary driven shaft 30. Adjusting means for controlling the relative center-to-center space of rollers l3 and 15 may be provided, such as lock screws 3|. The gears 21 and 28 insure the exact meeting of the working edges of knives 22 and 24 at every revolution of the rollers l3 and 65, once a correct adjustment of the knives has been attained.

To avoid the necessity of shutting down or stopping the mechanism when it becomes necessary to change or replace the knives, the whole assembly may be set up in duplicate, as indicated in Fig. 2, the second assembly being con centrically-alignedwith the first. In the drawing, the parts of this second assemblybear the distinguishing suflix a with like reference numerals. When so arranged, the guide roll H and the roving It may be moved laterally on the way l2 and the roving may then pass-into the second series of rollers and belt when the latter are set in motion. This frees the first assembly for adJustment or repairs without the necessity of stopping the rovingxas it comes from a spinning cabinet or supply package.

Referring to Fig. 3, as indicated above, the

5 knives 24 project beyond or outside of the periphery of roller I5 through slots 32 in the belt I1. As the knives 22 and 24 approach each other, the sharp edge of 24 just slightly leads and passes the sharp edge of 22, as indicated by the upper group of broken lines in Fig. 5, and thus serves to cut the roving I8 which is passing between them. During rotation, the cutting edges of the softer knives 22 wipe across the upper faces of hardened knives 24, thus continually exerting a sharpening effect on the softer knives 2.

As the softer knives 22 will naturally wear faster than the hardened knives 24, it will be necessary from time to time to move or advance the roller I3 circumferentially very slightly to compensate for the wear of the softer knives. for accomplishing this result, without slowing or stopping the machines may be as shown in Fig. 4. In this arrangement, gears 21 and 28 25 (or 21 and 28*) are omitted, and the mechanism shown in Fig. 4 is substituted. This mechanism is somewhat similar to the differential gearing of an automobile The primary shaft I4, corresponding to the shaft of roller I3 in 30 the other figures of the drawing, is driven, by

suitable connections, not shown, in the direction indicated by the arrow. This shaft carries a bevel pinion 48, which drives a bevel gear 4| that is integral with or fixed to a housing 42,

the latter being free to' revolve on a shaft 43.

At the outer end of shaft 43 is a worm gear 44,

engaging a worm 45 that may be turned manually. In effect, therefore, unless worm 45 is turned, the shaft 43 is locked in stationary position and the housing 42 may revolve around it.

A miter gear 46 is pinned to shaft 43 and is therefore stationary also.

The housing 42 carries a pair of miter gears 41 and 48 revoluble on a stub shaft 49 fixed in the housing. Both of these gears engage another miter gear 50, pinned to' a shaft 5| that has a miter gear 52 keyed to its outer end. The shaft I8 of roller I5 also carries a miter gear 53 that meshes with gear 52.

50 If the shaft I4 is revolved clockwise the gear 4| and housing 42 will also rotate as indicated by arrows in Fig. 4. The gears 41 and 48 then will roll around on the gear 46 which is held stationary by the worm gear 44 and worm 45. This action causes the gear 50 and shaft 5! to revolve as indicated, and thereby to revolve the shaft IIi counter-clockwise at a speed corresponding to that of shaft I4, so that both rollers I3 and I5 are revolved in opposite directions as previously described;

If it is desired to advance one roller slightly to compensate for wear on the knives 22, it is necessary only to give the worm a very small 65 fraction of one turn, thereby'minutely changing the position of gear 48 relative to the housing 42 and correspondingly turning shaft I 6 circumferentially a very slight distance from the position it formerly occupied with respect to 70 shaft I4. Thus as knives 22 wear away due to their sharpening action against the hardened knives 24, this wear may be compensated for as above described.

An alternative method of increasing the shav- 75 ing action of the hardened knives 24 on the soft Means knives 22 is to adjust the centers between the rolls I3 and II a little closer together by operation of the lock screws ll of Fig. 2 as previously described. This will cause the blades 24 to pro- .ject slightly further into the opposingrecesses 5 which hold the blades 22, thus bringing the blades into closer bearing relationship one to the other. 2

It will be obvious that the mechanism of my invention may be readily adapted for cutting sta- 10 pics of different lengths. This may be done. I either by employing different sets of rollers I3 and I5, each of which set is; provided with cooperating knives spaced apart circumferentially to give the desired staple length, or by employing 15 a single set of rollers, each of which is of sufficiently large diameter to provide for a. relatively large number of severing points. When the latter expedient is employed, the roller I3, for example, will be provided with a plurality of recesses and knives 22 which are so spaced apart as to give almost any desired staple length.

In this case, there will be a corresponding number of recesses and knives 24 on roller I5, but the number of knives 24 actually employed will 25 be determined by the staple length it is desired to cut. I

For example, if it is desired to cut a staple of maximum length, only one knife will be employed, thus giving a staple having a length equal 30 to the periphery of, the roller I3. If, on the other hand, a staple of half this length is desired, two knives placed in recesses positioned at opposite sides of the periphery of roller I5 will be employed, and so on. It will of course be under- 35 stood that the belt I1 may be provided with any number of slots to provide proper entrancefor the knives into the desired corresponding recesses of the opposite roller I3.

1 While I have found it convenient to illustrate my invention by means of a simple roller and belt mechanism, it will be apparent that the belt may consist of or carry a sprocket chain and that each, of the rollers I3, I5, I8, and I8 or any of them may be provided with sprocket teeth which coact with the belt.

It will be evident that my invention has many advantages. The mechanism is adapted for attachment to a single spinning cabinet in such manner as continuously to reduce the filament output of such cabinet to fibers of the desired staple length. It may be so positioned as to function as, or take the place of, the usual godet roll. 0n the other hand, the mechanism may be so mounted with respect to a plurality of cabinets as to provide for simultaneously cutting in staple fiber the output of all of the cabinets. In

fact, this is the most economical manner in which to operate in actual practice.

One of the outstanding advantages of my invention is the fact that the device is, as explained above, self-sharpening. Another important advantage from the operating standpoint is the fact that the cutting blades may be adjusted while the machine is running to give a more efiective cutting action. In addition, the belt feed to the cutting point keeps the filaments aligned in substantially parallel relationship and 7 keeps them compacted so that the cutting action is easily concentrated at one point, thus giving a true even cut through the roving. The fact that the material. is pinched between the rollers at the point of cutting also tends to/hold the roving firmly in place when the cutting operation occurs.

What I claim is:

1. A rotary staple cutter, the combination of contacting cutting rolls adapted to be driven in opposite directions at the same peripheral speed, pulleys rotatably mounted on opposite sides of but in close proximity to one of the cutting rolls, a slotted conveyor belt disposed over said pulleys and in contact with both cutting rolls at least at approximately the point of contact, one roll having recesses circumferentially spaced to register with corresponding recesses in the other roll and with the slots in the belt, cutting elements fixed in each recess, the cutting elements of one roll having such angular relation to the corresponding cutting elements of the other roll that upon registration with the-slots in the belt, they project through said slots and into the recesses of la the other roll and the cutting surfaces of the other roll, cutting elements fixed in each recess,

the cutting elements of one roll having such angular relation to the corresponding cutting elements of the other roll that the cutting surfaces of the elements of one roll scrape or wipe across the cutting surfaces of the elements of the other roll when the rolls are rotated, and means for adjusting the angular relation of the cutting elements of one roll with respect to the other, said adjusting means comprising an epicyclic gear train connecting the shafts'of the respective rolls.

JAMES ELLIS. 

